This Week in Sociological Perspective

This week we discuss an interesting act of altruism. And, I recently spoke with Chris Smith, Assistant Professor of Sociology of the University of Toronto, about her recent paper titled "Exogenous Shocks, the Criminal Elite, and Increasing Gender Inequality in Chicago Organized Crime." The paper is to be published in the American Sociological Review, and is sole-authored.

Segment 1 – Chris Smith on "Exogenous Shocks, the Criminal Elite, and Increasing Gender Inequality in Chicago Organized Crime."

Segment 2 – Unexplained Altruism between Nations and Peoples.

This week we discuss the protests in Portland, Oregon. And, I recently spoke with Eiko Strader, Assistant Professor of Public Policy & Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at George Washington University, about her recent paper titled "Will You Die for Your Country? Workplace Death in an Era of Mass Incarceration." The paper is to be published in Sociological Forum, and is co-authored by Miranda Hines.

Segment 1 -- Eiko Strader on "Will You Die for Your Country? Workplace Death in an Era of Mass Incarceration."

Segment 2 -- Challenges and possibilities of expanding the cultural toolkit of protestors in the shadow of the Portland protests.

This week I spoke with Professor Donald Tomaskovic-Devey of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, about the situation of labor as we approach the Labor day holiday. And, I recently spoke with Cindy Cain, Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Alabama-Birmingham, about her recent paper titled "Quelling moral panics? The case of physician aid in dying in California". The paper is scheduled to be published in Poetics and is sole-authored.

Segment 1 -- Cindy Cain on "Quelling moral panics? The case of physician aid in dying in California"

Segment 2 -- Donald Tomaskovic-Devey on conditions of work, the state of workers, and prospects for change this Labor day.

This week we discuss an epic shift in the source of electricity in the United States, and the upheavals the shift has produced. And, I recently spoke with Dr. Cassandra Engeman of Stockholm University about her recent paper titled "When Do Unions Matter to Social Policy? Organized Labor and Leave Legislation in the United States." The paper is to be published in Social Forces, and is sole-authored.

Segment 1 -- Cassandra Engeman on "When Do Unions Matter to Social Policy? Organized Labor and Leave Legislation in the United States."

Segment 2 -- The canary in the coal mine: The decline of coal, renewable replacements, and economic hardship in coal-producing Wyoming.

This week we discuss an important threshold the world has crossed. And, I speak with Professor Emily Kennedy of the Department of Sociology of the University of British Columbia about her recent paper titled "Accidental environmentalist or ethical elite? The moral dimensions of environmental impact." The paper is to be published in Poetics, and is co-authored by Christine Horne.

Segment 1 -- Emily Kennedy on "Accidental environmentalist or ethical elite? The moral dimensions of environmental impact"

Segment 2 -- Sociological and methodological reflections on the passing of an important threshold.

This week I am joined by a panel of experts to discuss re-opening schools, remote instruction, and many other challenges and possibilities of the coming academic year.

Panelists: Mark Berends, Professor of Sociology, University of Notre Dame Jessica Calarco, Associate Professor of Sociology, Indiana University Jan Stets, Professor of Sociology, University of California-Riverside

This week we note that Thursday, August 6th marks the 75th Anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing. And, we speak with Professor Courtney Boen of the University of Pennsylvania about her recent paper titled "Criminal Justice Contacts and Psychophysiological Functioning in Early Adulthood: Health Inequality in the Carceral State." The paper is to be published in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior, and is sole-authored.

Segment 1 -- Courtney Boen on "Criminal Justice Contacts and Psychophysiological Functioning in Early Adulthood: Health Inequality in the Carceral State."

Segment 2 -- Sociological reflections on the 75th Anniversary of the Hiroshima nuclear bombing.

This week we discuss the story of the living son of a Virginia slave, and what his story might mean for us today. And, I speak with Professor Kristen Hourigan of the California State University-Los Angeles about her recent paper titled "Girls Try, Boys Aim High: Exposing Difference in Implied Ability, Activity, and Agency of Girls Versus Boys in Language on McDonald's Happy Meal Boxes." The paper is to be published in the journal Sex Roles, and is sole-authored.

Segment 1 -- Kristen Hourigan on "Girls Try, Boys Aim High: Exposing Difference in Implied Ability, Activity, and Agency of Girls Versus Boys in Language on McDonald's Happy Meal Boxes."

Segment 2 -- Sociological reflections on a living son of a slave.

This week we discuss challenges that may attend the eventual release of a COVID-19 vaccine in the U.S. And, I recently spoke with Professor Mary Kate Blake of Valparaiso University about her recent paper titled "Other Duties as Assigned: The Ambiguous Role of the High School Counselor." The paper is to be published in Sociology of Education.

Segment 1 -- Mary Kate Blake on "Other Duties as Assigned: The Ambiguous Role of the High School Counselor."

Segment 2 -- Causes and implications of the social capital deficit, and its import for COVID-19 vaccine utilization.

This week I spoke with Dr. Bryan Ellis, Senior Lecturer in the Irvin D. Reid Honors College at Wayne State University, about the sociology of sport, the relation between sports and society, and how that relation may be made visible in this pandemic. But first, I recently spoke with Dr. Liana Christin Landivar, Faculty Affiliate, Maryland Population Research Center, about her recent paper titled "First-Birth Timing and the Motherhood Wage Gap in 140 Occupations." The paper is scheduled to be published in Socius.

Segment 1 -- Liana Christin Landivar on "First-Birth Timing and the Motherhood Wage Gap in 140 Occupations."

Segment 2 -- Bryan Ellis on the sociology of sports in the context of COVID-19.